Readers' comments

If Islam is to reform itself the push will have to come from within. Thank God for these unconventional scholars. Let's only hope that the Western leaders refrain from endorsing them left and right: no better way to alienate an idea than give the opposition just the ammo they want.

now that the extremists are in hiding (both bush and bin laden) the moderate majority will prevail, people are sick of the bombs that are continously killing muslims more than anyone else, which religion believes in killing people? none of them.

The truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth:
man you have to know that the imposing of a calipha won't be a problem for my country egypt only if i'll suffer of dictatorship u'll suffer of suicide bombing & terrorist operations day & night those meniac don't think of life they'll happily die as long as they'll take with them 100's of athiest so don't imagine it'll be like the USSR at the end the soviets wanted to live but in diffrent way but those fanatics want to die & take u in their way to paradise.

That is quite possibly the most stupid idea I have ever heard in my life. Why? Because you would damn millions to a miserable life. You assume that all muslims in the world think like that when the article clearly states: 'moderates are finding their voice'. For people to find their voice, they must exist in the first place! They are just scared and repressed. The 'Islamic Caliphate' would be ruled dictatorship-style and the only way to be rid of it in the end is for the people to rebel! That would mean more war and violence and border disputes- exactly what happened in many places in the former USSR and Soviet Bloc. The problem is not with islam as you seem to misunderstand, it is with the extremists, just as the problem was not with communism, it was with dictatorship ruling and disregard for life, which is why in many countries there are still communist parties with clout-see the German party 'die Linken'.

The Truth: a reasonable suggestion, except for three things. 1) The price of oil would rise to several hundred dollars per barrel, doing enormous damage to the free world's economies 2) Countries like China, India and Russia would never support an embargo, making it ineffective in the first place, and 3) even during the Cold War the West traded quite a bit with the USSR. Their isolation was self-imposed, not an embargo.

I suggest that an Islamic Caliphate be allowed to establish itself in the Muslim world, followed by a cessation of trade and travel between the free and Islamic worlds, similar to the situation between the West and the USSR during the cold war.

Let the muslims taste the real taste of Islam, like the russians experienced the joys of communism, this will bring them to their senses. Rational argumentation about the fallacy of Islam will not get transmitted, just as if you had tried to convince the russians to replace feudalism with democracy.

It is like the situation with a delinquent teenager, words will only induce contary behavior. They need to be once bitten by islam to realize the truth, just as in Iran today.

Debate over religion can always get heated. But in the poignant, polarized post-9/11 world, it has become a battleground. And at the heart of the dispute is a vast and rapidly growing religion that is suddenly filling the spotlight in global events: Islam.

Sprawled out over the globe as it is, Islam takes many forms. Since it is a religion without a centralized government and an existing hierarchy, demagogues who lack religious education and position, become self-proclaimed guardians. To protect the image of Islam, members of the clergy are doing their best to keep the distinction clear between Islam and Islamism.

However, what democratic nations, especially those in the West, do not understand is that Islam does not honour any agreements made with non-Islamic countries because it views them as nations of infidels and therefore not under obligation to keep its word. Mind-numbing nonsense of today’s political correctness restrains the civilized world from taking decisive steps against political demagogues and false religious leaders.

''But for sceptical Western observers of Islam, his justification of suicide attacks in Israel makes him an odious figure.'' There's your stumbling block to encouraging moderation. Decry it or not, until the Israeli occupation is somehow seen as ending (and with it, hit and run resistance) and until hope emerges for a real Palestinian polity, Western support or approval will contiue to be counterproductive. The Obama Cairo speech was a significant nudge; penalizing Israeli settlements would have even more impact in Islamic eyes, at least in the Middle East.

Qimani has chalanged Mohamed Bery of Al-Azhar front & Hamdy hassan of MB but both run away what's ironic that both admited that they didn't read Qimani's books.
now the battel has moved to facebook in a campagne to defend Qimani. what can be a proof for what the articals state is that the defender of qimani are more in number & stronger in ideas then those jihadist

I would dearly love to see a debate between Mr Qimani and a fundamentalist cleric. But he should be even more direct and vocal in his challenge, perhaps even picking out a particular individual. If he did so, I'm sure that most would not be able to bear the affront to their pride.